1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to juvenile car seats or safety seats and, more particularly, to a harness pad which is adapted for retrofit attachment to a safety seat and to interface with prescribed portions of the harness system thereof, the harness pad being uniquely configured to extend over or span the top of the shoulder of a child secured within the safety seat to significantly impede any potential forward excursion of the child. In another embodiment, the harness pad is adapted for retrofit attachment to a booster seat and interface to a portion of the existing vehicle seat belt or restraining system used to maintain a child therein, such harness pad likewise being uniquely configured to extend over or span the top of the shoulder of a child secured within the booster seat to significantly impede any potential forward excursion of the child.
2. Description of the Related Art
As is well known in the field of juvenile safety products, a typical car seat or child safety seat comprises a rigid seat shell which is configured or contoured to accommodate a child. In addition to including padding to make the safety seat comfortable for the child, the shell is outfitted with a harness system which is operative to secure the child within the safety seat and restrain the child in the event of an accident.
The shell is typically secured to an existing vehicle seat using an arrangement of straps/belts. More particularly, currently known safety seats include a lower strap that is operative to facilitate the attachment of the shell to corresponding rigid attachment points provided within the vehicle seat of later model cars. This lower strap is in used in combination with an elongate tether of the safety seat which extends from the upper portion of the back of the shell to another rigid attachment point of the vehicle either on the vehicle seat or on a rear deck of the vehicle behind the vehicle seat. To allow for use in older model cars that may not be outfitted with the aforementioned rigid attachment points, currently known safety seats are also often provided with a passageway through the shell which is adapted to accommodate a vehicle seat belt in a manner wherein the passage of the seat belt through the passageway and engagement thereof to the corresponding belt buckle of the vehicle retains the safety seat in an operative position upon the vehicle seat.
The harness system used in currently know child safety seats to secure the child therein is generally referred to as five-point harness system. The five points in the name are the spots where the harness straps attach to the shell of the safety seat. Two of the points are at each shoulder, two of the points are at the child's hips, and the final point is where the harness straps buckle between the child's legs. Five-point harness systems are found on nearly all modern safety seats, having replaced the prior three-point harness systems which did not have attachment points at the child's hips.
In greater detail, FIG. 1 depicts a conventional prior art five-point harness system 10 of a safety seat 12. The five-point harness system 10 typically includes a pair of elongate shoulder straps 14 that are adapted to pass over respective ones of the child's shoulders on either side of the child's neck. More particularly, when viewed from the perspective shown in FIG. 1, upper portions 16 of the shoulder straps 14 are extensible over the child's shoulders and thereafter through respective ones of a corresponding pair of slots formed in a seatback portion of the shell at approximately the shoulders. The distal or terminal end regions of these upper portions 16 are typically affixed to a splitter plate that effectively joins the same to a corresponding end portion of a single, elongate adjustment strap. This adjustment strap extends behind and underneath the shell to a location as allows the same to be manipulated by a parent or caregiver as needed to selectively adjust the tension of the harness system.
As is apparent from FIG. 1, to accommodate the growth of the child, safety seats are typically provided with multiple slots pairs formed within the seatback portion of the shell. In this regard, as also viewed from the perspective shown in FIG. 1, the slots are formed in two spaced, generally vertical columns, with each of the slots of one column being horizontally aligned with a corresponding slot of the remaining column. As indicated above, the upper portions 16 of the shoulder straps 14 are advanced through respective ones of the slots of a corresponding, horizontally aligned pair thereof, with the preferred slot pair being those most closely aligned to the child's shoulders when positioned within the shell of the safety seat. The padding of the safety seat is itself provided with an array of slots which, when the padding is properly engaged to the shell, are generally aligned with respective ones of the slots formed within the shell.
In addition to the upper portion, each of the shoulder straps 14 defines a lower portion 18. The distal or terminal end regions of these lower portions 18 are affixed to prescribed locations or points of the shell in relative close proximity to the lower seat portion thereof. As is further shown in FIG. 1, the lower portions 18 are advanced through respective ones of an identically configured pair of lower connectors 20 which are each in turn releasably engageable to a common buckle 22. The buckle 22 is attached to one end of a lap belt or strap 24 which extends between the child's thighs when the child is seated in the safety seat, the opposite end of the lap belt 24 being secured to the shell. In certain safety seats, the upper portions 16 of the shoulder straps 14 are advanced through respective ones of an identically configured pair of upper connectors 26 which are releasably engageable to each other and, when attached to each other, collectively define a chest clip.
Certain juvenile safety seats as known in the prior art are further outfitted with a headrest which is movably mounted to the shell. The height/orientation of the headrest relative to the shell is selectively adjustable as needed to accommodate the growth of the child. Typically, the adjustment mechanism associated with the headrest is slidably mounted to the rear surface of the backrest portion of the shell. In these particular safety seats, the upper portions 16 of the shoulder straps 14, subsequent to being advanced through a corresponding pair of the slots within the shell in the aforementioned manner, are extended up and over a prescribed portion of the adjustment mechanism prior to being attached to the aforementioned splitter plate. In many safety seats outfitted with an adjustable headrest, an upper cross-bar member of the adjustment mechanism is that structural feature thereof over which the upper portions 16 of the shoulder straps 14 are extended prior to being attached to the splitter plate.
Also known in the field of juvenile products are booster seats. This type of seat meets all government standards as to safety and is appropriate for children from toddler up to a particular size, at which time the child becomes too large to fit into the above-described safety seat, but is still too small to properly use the restraining systems of standard automobiles, that is, the seat and/or harness shoulder straps in these systems. In this regard, many currently known booster seats include many of the aforementioned structural features of the safety seat (e.g., the padded shell, movable headrest), but are not outfitted with a harness system or an arrangement of straps/tethers operative to facilitate the attachment of the shell to corresponding rigid attachment points provided within the vehicle seat.
With particular regard to safety seats, there are changes in U.S. safety seat regulations which are to take effect in 2014. One of these changes is related to crash testing requirements using a crash test dummy corresponding to a ten (10) year old child. The result of this change is that many existing safety seats will face challenges in passing the new testing requirements for a child above sixty-five (65) pounds in a five-point harness. The present invention effectively overcomes this obstacle by providing harness pads which are adapted for retrofit attachment to the safety seat and to interface with prescribed portions of the above-described five-point harness system 10, and in particular to respective ones of the upper portions 16 of the shoulder straps 14 thereof. The harness pads of the present invention, when operatively engaged to the safety seat, are uniquely configured to extend over or span the top of the shoulders of a child secured within the safety seat in a manner which significantly impedes any potential forward excursion of the child. As a result, the safety seat as outfitted with the harness pads can be rated for children well above sixty-five pounds while still meeting new Federal regulations. In another embodiment, the harness pad is adapted for retrofit attachment to a booster seat and interface to a portion of the vehicle seat belt used to maintain a child therein, such harness pad likewise being uniquely configured to extend over or span the top of the shoulder of a child secured within the booster seat to significantly impede any potential forward excursion of the child. These, as well as other features and advantages of the present invention will be described in more detail below.